WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee floated a proposal Thursday that would end bulk collection of phone records by the National Security Agency after a two-year transition period, leaving it to the House to accept the deal or allow expiration of government surveillance powers June 1. The plan by Richard Burr, R-N.C., came as the White House urged the Senate to take up a House-passed bill that would end NSA bulk collection after six months while preserving other surveillance powers.

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The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is stepping down after a 14-month tenure in which the agency proposed broad changes to rules governing protections for thousands of species and pushed for more hunting and fishing on federal lands, officials said Thursday.

U.S. states are tightening rules for online political advertising ahead of the November midterm elections as prospects dim that federal rules will be in place to prevent a repeat of the Russian interference seen in 2016.

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lead attorney for the ongoing special counsel investigation, said Monday that Trump's legal team is planning to send a letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller this week that will largely rebuff Mueller's latest offer of a presidential interview that would include questions about possible obstruction of justice.